A regular day at a construction site turned into a historical one when they accidentally dug up something profound! To this day, they are still trying to figure out just how that mysterious object ended up in Alexandria, Egypt…
Egypt
Egypt is a known hot spot for archeologists. Egypt holds so many secrets of the past that archaeologists can unlock. Sometimes, the most important information is right under their noses…
Regular Work Day
In Alexandria, Egypt, a construction crew stumbled upon something that was disturbing to them, but a total gold mine for archaeologists!
A Hot Spot
Egypt is full of historic treasures. A lot of the time, construction workers can accidentally find things when they are working in the ground. Usually, it’s just small artifacts… This was not one of those cases.
King Tut
King Tut’s tomb is one of the most famous excavations in Egypt. Many people believe nothing could surpass it… Until this.
Huge Discovery
To backtrack, King Tut’s tomb was discovered in 1922. Even to this day, it still gets archaeologists excited to talk about. A team led by Howard Carter found treasure, Tut’s death mask, and other things that he was buried with.
His Experience
In a diary entry, Carter wrote, “As one’s eyes became accustomed to the glimmer of light, the interior of the chamber gradually loomed before one, with its strange and wonderful medley of extraordinary and beautiful objects heaped upon one another.”
Alexander the Great
Alexandria was founded by Alexander the Great who ended up connecting to Greece through the Nile Valley. Through this, the city was alive with ships, traders, and merchants. It was extremely lively.
Good News!
Because of this, Alexandria is another popular spot for archaeological digs. They’ve found a lot of artifacts in this area. So, when teams heard that construction workers found something, they were obviously excited!
New Buildings
The owner of the land was planning new apartment buildings. They had knocked down an existing structure already when the owner asked them to dig deeper for a basement. Naturally, this wasn’t an issue and they got to digging.
Just A Usual Day…
They dug for hours and hours that day. They went deeper and deeper until something for them to stop…
A Tomb?
The construction workers ended up stumbling upon a tomb that was hidden 16 feet into the ground… They had been working over this for several days and had no idea!
News Was Spreading
Quickly, the build was halted as they were now dealing with some crazy history. Archaeological teams found out quickly as the news spread. They had no idea who could be buried here…
Superstitions
Many of the locals who have lived in Egypt their entire lives are very superstitious about all of the findings. A lot of them have their entire ancestry in Egyptian history…
Locals Didn’t Want Any Trouble
They didn’t want these tombs to be disturbed. They believed that their final resting should stay as they wanted it… The construction workers were a part of those locals, so things started to get a little complicated…
Keep It Closed
The locals were fighting for the tomb to remain closed. They felt that it was cursed, and opening it would release havoc on the town. Some people were convinced… Especially because of the history of the building that was demolished on top of the tomb.
A Curse?
The building above the tomb had a lot of bad luck. Things broke all of the time and the building itself was pretty unstable. Plus, the people who were unlucky enough to live there had found themselves in pretty hard times…
What Should They Do?
Locals were uneasy about the excavation. They were afraid of the terrible curse it would bring onto their community. Experts began to weigh in on the situation…
Ancient
Many experts suggested that the tomb was dated back to the Ptolemaic period between 3025 and 30 BC. The fact that it was so old intrigued many archeologists.
The Sarcophagus
The sarcophagus was huge. Compared to others found in the area, this one was massive. Archaeologists were a bit confused on what could be inside…
Open It Up!
They made the decision… It was time to open the tomb. They weren’t sure what (or who) was laying inside.
A Head!
When they opened up the tomb, they were greeted with a head. Well, an alabaster head. This was definitely not what they were expecting… This lead to even more questions. Whose head was this replicating?
A Struggle
The actual lid to the sarcophagus was extremely heavy. It took half at least half a dozen men to try and remove it before they realized they needed to heavy equipment.
Ayman Ashmawy
Ayman Ashmawy was called in to help. He has worked with Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities for years. He knew what to do…
Extremely Uncommon…
This was unlike any other site he was welcomed on to. Even with the bizarre situation, he knew what to do.
This Was Going To Be Good
He was amazed by the size of the tomb, just like the other investigators. At first glance, he knew that this thing was special because of one big giveaway…
Layers and Layers
There was a layer of mortar between the lid of the tomb and the body… That means that it had been sealed. The estimated age of the seal to be around 2,000 years old. It’s hard to tell if that was the first time it was sealed… But, that’s still extremely old!
Very Uncommon
The material of the lid was also… peculiar. It was made of black granite that was extremely uncommon at the time that this was made. This provoked some intense questions…
High Status
After further investigation, they concluded that the person who built this was of very high status… Someone well-known. They had no idea what they were in store for!
Things Were Getting Intense
Locals began to gather around the excavation site. They were interested in seeing who had been buried in their town… They quickly had to tape off the area because things were getting crazy! They wanted to know what was going on…
The Curse
The locals heavily believed in the legend of the Pharaoh’s curse. The curse states that anyone who disturbs the mummy of a pharaoh would be cursed…
Rumors
As previously stated, Alexandria was founded by Alexander The Great… Many locals got antsy about the rumors that it had been him buried there. The answer was awaiting them…
Not Done Yet…
They called in more heavy machinery to get to the bottom of this mystery! The crew was able to open the lid of the tomb, but they weren’t safe yet… There was still the risk of having it fall and ruin everything!
Lots of Dust
What they weren’t expecting was the cloud of dust! It covered the area and made it impossible to see for a little bit…
Is That Really…
Skeletons
The fact that there were three skeletons inside the tomb had the investigators extremely confused… This is not what they were expecting!
Who Were They?
After some more investigating, they believed that the skeletons were soldiers. The red liquid was actually raw sewage that leaked into the sarcophagus…
Even More Questions!
The researchers felt like they were back at square one! This skeleton discovery only left them with more questions. It wasn’t as amazing as they were hoping… But now, they were influenced to go through Alexandria for more clues.
What Are The Connections…
Researchers were wondering if this site had any relationship with the network of tombs below the city of Cairo… There was some evidence pointing to that, but could they make any connections?
Ongoing Investigation
For now, it is still a mystery. Archaeologists are still working hard to figure out who these skeletons belong to. They’re also trying to figure out what significance they had on the community, and why they were buried apart from other tombs…